A group of lawmakers moved on Monday to oust the beleaguered speaker of the House of Commons, over an expenses scandal which has rocked Britain's political leadership and triggered widespread public fury.

Michael Martin, who could become the first speaker in 300 years to be ousted by a no-confidence motion, was to unveil plans to rewrite parliament's tattered expenses rule book after more than a week of embarrassing revelations.

But there is increasing pressure for him to pay the price personally for the scandal, which has revealed lawmakers claiming taxpayers' money for everything from swimming pools to moat-cleaning and installing chandeliers.

Newspaper commentators queued up to push for his resignation.

"Mr. Speaker's Last Stand," said the right-wing Daily Mail's front page headline, while the left-leaning Guardian splashed the headline: "Growing crisis as Speaker defies calls to force him out".

Martin, the top authority in the lower parliamentary chamber, has been accused of being an obstacle to reform of the expenses system, whose failures have been highlighted by leaked details of five years of MPs' claims.

Amid growing public anger at the revelations, the leader of the second opposition Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, said Sunday that Martin had to give way to a new speaker who could drive through change.

"I have arrived at the conclusion that the speaker must go," Clegg told BBC television.

"He has proved himself over some time now to be a dogged defender of the way things are, the status quo, when what we need, very urgently, is someone at the heart of Westminster who will lead a wholesale radical process of reform."

On Monday an MP from the main opposition Conservatives was to table a motion of no-confidence against the speaker.

Douglas Carswell said he had "significant" support from lawmakers of all three main parties, although a vote on the no-confidence motion was not expected to be held immediately.

Martin was a long-time member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party, but renounced his political loyalties when he took office as speaker in 2000. He was due to make an emergency statement in the House of Commons on Monday.

His spokeswoman would not be drawn on the resignation row, saying only that his remarks would be "focused on how to resolve the problem of allowances as swiftly as possible."

A close ally of Martin, Labour MP Jim Sheridan, said he expected the speaker to talk "about where his future lies."

"I think Michael today will make a statement about where his future lies. I personally would like to see him stay until the next election, get through the reforms we need to get through," he told BBC radio.

Elected by lawmakers and the highest authority in the House of Commons, the speaker traditionally stays in the job until he retires. The last time a post-holder was forced out was more than 300 years ago.

In 1695, Sir John Trevor was forced to quit as speaker after MPs found him guilty of bribery for accepting money to push through a piece of legislation.

Business minister Peter Mandelson declined to speculate on the current speaker's future.

"Whatever your views about the speaker, the fact is that this is a system of paying MPs, of remunerating MPs, which has got to change," he told Sky News television.

"It is no longer sustainable, the public do not have trust in it.... I think that is why all this has got to change and I hope that the parties will come together in the House of Commons and work out a proper alternative," he added.